Garman to speak at Law Day dinner

CHAMPAIGN — Illinois Supreme Court Justice Rita Garman of Danville will be the keynote speaker at the Champaign County Bar Association's annual Law Day dinner Wednesday.

The American Bar Association has designated the theme of this year's Law Day as "No Courts, No Justice, No Freedom."

Garman has served in the Illinois justice system for almost 40 years, the past 10 on the state's highest court.

She was first appointed as an associate judge for the 5th Judicial Circuit in 1974 and served in that position until 1986, when she was elected a circuit court judge.

She served as a Vermilion County judge until 1995 when she was assigned to the 4th District Appellate Court in Springfield. In 1996, she was elected to that post and served there until her appointment to the Supreme Court in 2001. She was elected to the Supreme Court in 2002.

Garman has served as an instructor at numerous seminars and programs for Illinois judges and has been a member and chairwoman of the Education Committee of the Illinois Judicial Conference.

Garman serves as liaison to several Supreme Court committees, including the Committee on Child Custody Cases, the Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee and the Illinois Historic Preservation Commission, which this year is co-sponsoring several statewide events about Mary Todd Lincoln, including a retrial of her insanity commitment.

Wednesday's Law Day dinner begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Champaign Country Club, 1211 S. Prospect Ave., C.

Five area attorneys will be honored for their pro-bono work. They are Champaign attorneys John Elder and Mary Manning; and Urbana attorneys Tony Bruno, Roger Marsh and Brett Olmstead.

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